1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for detecting or quantifying white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) in a sample.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, disease outbreaks have caused mass mortality among cultured shrimps (especially penaeid shrimp) in Taiwan and southeast Asia. Pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi, along with environmental stressors such as temperature fluctuation, heavy rainfall, overfeeding, and industrial and agricultural-pollutants, are considered to be the major contributors for the outbreaks. Among these, viral infections are particularly of concern, primarily because viral diseases cannot be cured by therapeutic reagents and an early and sensitive detection of the disease is the most effective means for containment.
To date, nearly twenty penaeid shrimp viral diseases have been discovered. Among them, white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is one of the major shrimp viruses due to its wide distribution and causes of high mortality in penaeid shrimp.
The recent discovery that exotic viruses remain infectious in frozen, commodity shrimp has led to serious concerns in the world. The best approach to manage any viral disease is to implement preventative measures to keep it out of the production system. These include disinfecting ponds and eliminating potential viral carriers prior to stocking, the use of fine screens at water inlets to remove potential carriers, avoidance of fresh feed (not heat processed) products that may contain crustacean species that are carriers or hosts for WSSV. Also, monitoring of all stocks through the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for WSSV is an essential measure.
While the PCR technique as presently practiced is an extremely powerful method for amplifying nucleic acid sequences, the detection of the amplified material requires additional manipulation and subsequent handling of the PCR products to determine whether the target DNA is present.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a rapid and sensitive method for detecting or quantifying WSSV in a sample.